Improvement in the needle-holder of sewing-machines



G. H. HORN.

Device for Holding and Adjusting Sewing Machine Needles.

Patented March 6, 1860'.

Why/6.55

' UNITED STATES PATENT FFICEQ GEORGE I-I. HORN, OF BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND EDWVIN B. HORN, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE NEEDLE-HOLDER OF SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 27,4109, dated March 6,1860.

Z") all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. HORN, of Boston, in the county of Suffolkand State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful or ImprovedDevice or Mechanism for Holding and Adjusting a Needle in a SewingMachine and I do hereby declare the same to be fully described andrepresented in the following specification and the accompanyingdrawings, of which Figure 1 denotes a side view of a sewingmachineneedle-carrier fitted with my invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinalsection of the same. Fig. 3 is a separate view of the splitballneedle-holder.

The object of my invention is to enable a person to readily adjust theneedle of a sewing-machine, either when such needle is first applied tothe carrier or subsequently, in case of its becoming deflected out ofits normal position.

Heretofore it has been customary to clamp a needle in its carrier asnear to its proper position as possible, and afterward by means ofpliers to bend it into its true position. As needles are usually made ofsteel, they are easily and often broken while being so arranged; butwith my improvement no bending of a needle becomes necessary, and ofcourse the liability of its being broken is obvi ated.

In the drawings, A exhibits the needle bar or carrier of asewing'machine. It has a globular or hollow socket, a, formed in thelower part of it and in a clamp-block, b, which is separate from thepart A, and is confined thereto by means of a screw, 0, which passesthrough the block b, and is screwed into the carrier, as shown in Fig.2.

WVithin the globular socket a a secondary needle-holder or carrier, 13,is placed, the same consisting of a tube, (1, surmounted by a sphere orball, a. The mouth f of the spherical socket should have a diameter alittle larger than that of the tube (1, the same being in order to allowthe axis of the tube to be moved into an obtuse angle with respect tothat of the needlecarrier A, and to such extent as may be desirable toeffect the proper adjustment of a needle while in the sewingmaehine andinserted within the tube (1. The needle may be held in place in the saidtube by friction of its sides against the bore of the tube, or by aclamp -screw passed into the tube transversely; but I prefer to make theball 0 in two parts, with a split or saw-kerf, as shown at g in Fig. 3,and also so that the needle may extend into the ball or between theseparated parts thereof, and be clamped in place or to the tube-holderby the contraction of the parts of the ball or the holders upon it, thatmay be occasioned by the pressure of the clamp-block b when the screw 0is screwed up against the block. In this way the said screw 0 is made toperform the double duty of clamping the needle in its ball-holder and ofconfining the ball-holder fast in its socket or carrier.

WVith my invention a needle can be adjusted with great facility.

In the English patent of Foxwell, granted in 1855, and numbered 1,026,the needle of the sewingqnachine is exhibited as held by a shaft orarbor having its axis at a right angle with that of the needle, andbeing made to turn in a bearing formed in the needle-carrier or vertical bar by which the needle is operated. This plan admits only of alimited adjustment of the needle, or, in other words, allows the needleto be turned only in a plane perpeir dicular to the axis of the arbor orshaft, where as with my improved mechanism the needle can be adjusted inany direction whichsoever way it may be bent or deflected out of avertical line. In the English patent of Bartlett, No. 1,894 for the year1853, a device is shown for clamping a needle to the needle-carrier of asewing-machine, the said device consisting not only of a perforatedblock and a slide plate within the same, but a screw to act against thelatter, all of which differs mate rially from my improved mode ofconstructin g the adjustable needle-holderviz., with a slit or split inits ball when such ball is arranged in a socket provided with clampingdevices, as specified. I therefore do not claim any of the devices abovementioned as found in either of the said English patents 7 but Iclaim 1. My improved device or mechanism for holding and adjusting theneedle, it being composed of the secondary socketed needleholder and itsball and supporting-socket applied to the needle-carrier and having adeboth the needle and the needle-holder at one vice or devices forclamping the ball to the and the same time, as described. carrier,substantially as specified.

2. Making the mu needle-holder with the O split or slit in its ball,substantially as de- Vitnesses: scribed, and so as to eo-operate withthe clamp- R. H. EDDY,

ing screw or device and cause it to clamp F. I. HALE, J1.

